Third-wave feminism a threat to civilisation - West

Third-wave feminists, the supposed group of people behind the present efforts to legalise abortion in Jamaica, are an extreme and dangerous group who are hostile to culture and civilisation as we know it, says Wayne West, chairman of the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS).

West, who was a panellist during an abortion-centred Gleaner Editors' Forum last Tuesday, contended that third-wave feminism is extremely Marxist and seeks to destroy family ties.

"Third-wave feminists hold the view that abortion should be considered a woman's right and she has no reason to justify it. They use the term 'abortion on demand' without apology, meaning that whenever I want it, I must have it, and I don't need to have any reason for having it, only that I don't want the child," said West.

He continued: "In fact, groups like Development Alternatives for Women of a New Era are third-wave feminist groups. What they are seeking to bring to Jamaica is really the concept of abortion as a woman's right, meaning that the society must be organised around providing abortion services and literally punishing those who do not participate or who do not wish to, in some way, facilitate abortion services,"

Spence argued that third-wave feminism, among other things, advocates for gender equality, realigning the media's image of women, and speaks out in relation to violence against women.

"It speaks definitively to the idea that sexual abuse and domestic violence must be eradicated and that women must enjoy their full human rights," she reasoned.

"Third-wave feminists have spoken to the importance of there not being a universal portrayal of women but instead insists that the realities that women across time, culture, socio-economic background, race, ethnicity and sexuality have their own stories, experience and reality."